Stephen Fortosis & Harley T. Atkinson 
Fallible Heroes 
Inside the Protestant Reformation

To the casual observer the major contributors of the Protestant Reformation include a select few–Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and perhaps Philip Melanchthon. However, the movement might have easily perished in its infancy were it not for a very unique and courageous company of more obscure individuals who worked together across continental Europe during the sixteenth century–Martin Bucer, Wolfgang Capito, Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, Matthew and Katarina Zell, Menno Simons, John Oecolampadius, Andreas Karlstadt, and Heinrich Bullinger, to name a few. This book draws the reader into three often-ignored elements of the Reformation: first, the interaction the reformers had with each other through dialogues, letters, debates, and colloquies; second, the weaknesses, blemishes, and misdeeds of the reformers (in addition to their strengths and accomplishments); and third, the contributions of the lesser-known reformers in addition to the prominent ones. It is a story as vividly powerful as any adventure novel–it is a story of Fallible Heroes.

About the author

Donald T. Williams holds a BA in English from Taylor University, an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and a Ph D in Medieval and Renaissance Literature from the University of Georgia. He is the author of nine books: The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (1994; reprint, Wipf & Stock), Inklings of Reality: Essays toward a Christian Philosophy of Letters (1996), The Disciple’s Prayer (1999; reprint, Wipf & Stock), Mere Humanity: G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien on the Human Condition (2006), Credo: Meditations on the Nicene Creed (2007), The Devil’s Dictionary of the Christian Church (2008), Stars Through the Clouds: The Collected Poetry of Donald T. Williams (2011), Reflections from Plato’s Cave: Essays in Evangelical Philosophy (2012), Inklings of Reality: Essays toward a Christian Philosophy of Letters (2012), and, with Jim Prothero, Gaining a Face: The Romanticism of C. S. Lewis (2013). He has also contributed essays, poems, and reviews to such journals as National Review, Christianity Today, Touchstone, Modern Reformation, The Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Philosophia Christi, Theology Today, Christianity and Literature, Christian Scholar’s Review, Mythlore, SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review, Christian Educator’s Journal, Preaching, and Christian Research Journal. An ordained minister in the Evangelical Free Church of America with many years of pastoral experience, he has spent several summers in Africa and India training local pastors for Church Planting International, and currently serves as R.A. Forrest Scholar and Professor of English at Toccoa Falls College in the hills of NE Georgia.